If you had the choice between a 97 Malibu Sunsetter LX21 430 hrs, 320 hp, tower, wedge, sack, bumpin system and in nice condition and a 99 Tige 2100WT 215 hrs, 320 hp,PHAT Tower, Taps, decent system and in immaculate condition. Both boats are 21ft with nice trailers and kept up very well.the Tige has always been garaged and looks like it just came off of the showroom floor. I know everbody has diff. opinions, but does one handle better than the other....in flat water....in choppy water.....in wakes....turn better.....tow better etc. Is the Malibu a better boat overall, or is the Tige? Both boats are about the same price. We are intermediate wakeboarders towing skiers sometimes.

Get the tige please you will appreciate it alot more even if you have to upgrade the sound system, itl be worth it trust me! Not to mention they handle fantastic and the wake has a very rampy feel, My family owned a 2001 tige and never had any problems with it, my moms ex boyfriend bought an 08 and again has not had a problem with it. They are very reliable boats and not to mention there is a huge "tige" family

Thanks for the replies.....keep em coming. I know both guys pretty well that are selling the boats, but have ridden in neither of them. the reason I started this thread is because when I look around on forums, it seems that you see more Malibu's than Tige's at those years. I own a 78 Mastercraft and love it, but would like to have an open bow and can get a SMOKIN deal on either of these boats. Just found out that I can get the Malibu for about 3-4 grand less.....would you still go the Tige? Is the Tige a "better" boat than the Malibu overall? Sorry for all the questions, I just don't know much about either of these boats and would like to hear from people who do.

Malibu is a hands down better boat for the two years that you are comparing. This was the era when Tige claimed that they coud make a huge wake with no weight in the boat and usuing the TAPS system.

Hull: The malibu hull for the 97 sunsetter IIRC is the oringinal wakesetter hull as now the newer V ride hull. The tige hulls had chine's toward the rear that would cause the wake to have a lip...NOT WHAT YOU WANT.

Engine: Indmar Monsoon is a much better power plant than the mercruiser junk they were putting in Tige's back then. I don't even think that Tige puts Mercrusier Marine in their boats today.

Also, do some research and see what year tige stopped using wood in their boats...especially in the stringers. Tige makes a good boat today, but they were not that great back in the late 90's and early to mid 2000's.

I think Murphy is referring to the spray pockets. They only create a lip on the wake if you have more than 1200 pounds extra ballast in the boat, and even then it is cosmetic, a 1" lip of foam on top of the wake is not enough to effect anything. I owned a 2002 Tige and it was the same hull, IIRC. The surf wake on that boat is one of the best you will see in an older model, hands down.

Wood, schmood. Do a search and you will not find a single complaint here about wood stringers, just people saying they are bad, but no one who actually has bad wood stringers from Tige. The wood was encapsulated in fiberglass and is completely sealed.

There were not nearly as many Tiges in that year. The company was formed in the early 90's and had not gained popularity so much then.

I am not necessarily defending Tige, I don't even own one anymore, but do want to see facts be presented.

The hull on the Malibu is a great one indeed, could not go wrong with it.

Tige has since switched from Merc to Marine Power and now to PCM. When they switched to MP, dealers were giddy saying that they saw fewer problems than with Merc. But Merc does make more marine engines than anyone out there.

Malibu is a hands down better boat for the two years that you are comparing. This was the era when Tige claimed that they coud make a huge wake with no weight in the boat and usuing the TAPS system.

Hull: The malibu hull for the 97 sunsetter IIRC is the oringinal wakesetter hull as now the newer V ride hull. The tige hulls had chine's toward the rear that would cause the wake to have a lip...NOT WHAT YOU WANT.

Engine: Indmar Monsoon is a much better power plant than the mercruiser junk they were putting in Tige's back then. I don't even think that Tige puts Mercrusier Marine in their boats today.

Also, do some research and see what year tige stopped using wood in their boats...especially in the stringers. Tige makes a good boat today, but they were not that great back in the late 90's and early to mid 2000's.

thanks murphy.....this is some of the info that I was exactly hoping to get. I had read in other threads about the design of the Malibu hull still being used.....which must tell you something about the design. The engine was one of the other questions that I had.....one better than another....now I know......keep the info and opinions coming!

Question about the indmar Monsoon and the Mercruiser.....they are both chevy 350 based, correct? What made the Mercruiser so bad compared to the Monsoon...Internals.....fuel injection.....electronics....etc.

The malibu hull would be the same as the 00-04 wakesetter and 05-08 ride series. I think. The vride in 09 and newer got the 05+ VLX hull. So it wouldn't exactly be fair to say its exactly the same hull as current production. Also, gorilla fins (tracking fins on hull) were added sometime in there. As a direct drive, the malibu would be a lot like a poor man's iride.

as an owner of a 98 pre2200wt and a friend of an owner of a 02 vlx (same hull i believe, but his is a v-drive), i would say that the wakes on both are very comparable.

I run approx #3200's in my tige. I am almost positive the 2100wt is the same hull as mine, just 1' shorter. you wouldnt need as much wieght as I do to make an incredible wake. I have 500+ hours on my boat and no problems. It handles better than most boats I have driven even with 3200 lbs in her. the wake is clean and big. the TAPS is a great tool to help shape the wake... it does not make the wake big, that is a load of BS. It does allow you to flatten the wake or make it steeper. it also helps me to get it on plane with the taps all the way down.

malibu. great boat, better fit and finish in my opinion, seems like the one you are looking at has more bang for the buck. bummer is its a direct- drive so hiding ballast under the floors will be more difficult.

cant go wrong either way. drive em both and ride em both.

also, my wake has never had the messed up lip that has been talked about here. my wake is super clean and has always been, no matter how much weight I put in her, she keeps taking it.

as an owner of a 98 pre2200wt and a friend of an owner of a 02 vlx (same hull i believe, but his is a v-drive), i would say that the wakes on both are very comparable.

I run approx #3200's in my tige. I am almost positive the 2100wt is the same hull as mine, just 1' shorter. you wouldnt need as much wieght as I do to make an incredible wake. I have 500+ hours on my boat and no problems. It handles better than most boats I have driven even with 3200 lbs in her. the wake is clean and big. the TAPS is a great tool to help shape the wake... it does not make the wake big, that is a load of BS. It does allow you to flatten the wake or make it steeper. it also helps me to get it on plane with the taps all the way down.

malibu. great boat, better fit and finish in my opinion, seems like the one you are looking at has more bang for the buck. bummer is its a direct- drive so hiding ballast under the floors will be more difficult.

cant go wrong either way. drive em both and ride em both.

also, my wake has never had the messed up lip that has been talked about here. my wake is super clean and has always been, no matter how much weight I put in her, she keeps taking it.

I find it hard to believe the Tige will throw as good a wake as the Malibu with equal amounts of added ballast. The Malibu is on the SV 23 hull which was Malibu's flag ship wake hull until 2005. Both are nice looking boats in the pictures.

Question to John and others.....my buddy that has the Tige always complained about the rake of the bow of the boat bein too low and having to be careful in big wakes. Is it that much lower than the malibu and other boats? You guys that have Tiges.....is it that big of a deal? Doesn't seem like it is, but he always talked about it.

my 22 footer has a lot more freeboard (the amount of "boat" that is above the water line) than that 2100 and the malibu. i cant tell from the two pictures, you will have to check it out for yourself when you demo the tige. I have1650 lbs in the bow so mine sits low for sure, I am just carefull and have learned how to not dip the bow. My buddies vlx (same hull just a vdrive) has no problem with his bow. Looking at the tige it looks like it will sit low.

Its not that big of a deal really, you will learn how to prevent taking water in, even so, if you have a working sump pump then you are all good.

greg... I ride both these wakes and I say they are super close. my boat is another foot longer (22'2") than the malibu so it takes more weight than the tige 2100 would need to have an equal wake. with that said, my 3200 lbs compared to my buddies 02 vlx with about 3000 lbs the wakes are so close and his boat is a foot shorter. people make fun of my tige until they ride it. that hull is legit.

the tige looks cleaner and has less hours, but the malibu is still really low hours and I think it is a better deal as long as you like driving it and riding it. plus you get the wedge which some people really like using.

Tony, you'll learn a lot from the test drives. Listen to the opinions but think about the source. Some are a bit ignorant and some are better informed, but you can see that. The TAPS feature is really nice because you can adjust the attitude in a storm for better, safer ride. The engines and hours are not very significant if they both have been well maintained. One thing to consider is that the hulls have changed more on the Tige boats and seldom on the Malibu. I've thought the Malibus felt lighter driving than the Tiges.
I've owned neither and won't give you an opinion on what to get. Just use what people say to help filter what you experience.

Yikes...buying a boat from a buddy is always a scray propostion. If something goes wrong, it is hard not to find blame or have negative thoughts toward your buddy whos sold you the boat. Buy the Malibu and save your relationship with your buddy.

But who are we kidding, I am ignorant since I currently own a 97 sunnsetter with tower and have ridden numerous times behind a 00 tige direct drive. Ha Ha!!!

Yikes...buying a boat from a buddy is always a scray propostion. If something goes wrong, it is hard not to find blame or have negative thoughts toward your buddy whos sold you the boat. Buy the Malibu and save your relationship with your buddy.

But who are we kidding, I am ignorant since I currently own a 97 sunnsetter with tower and have ridden numerous times behind a 00 tige direct drive. Ha Ha!!!

Well, they are both pretty good friends. Since you own one, tell me some pros and cons or things that you like or dislike about your Malibu. if you were buying a boat all over again, would you still buy the Sunsetter? And since you have ridden behind a 00 Tige, like boarding behind the Tige or your Malibu better? Is there anything that you like about the Malibu that the Tige doesn't have or do and vice versus? How does your Sunsetter run compared to the Tige?Does one plane better than the other? Does one pull out of the hole better than the other? Sorry for all the questions, just nice to hear from someone that has a Sunsetter and ridden in and behind a Tige. Thanks for the info man

I've spent a lot of time in both of those models. The Tige will handle rough water better, but will take water over the bow a lot easier when it's not on plane. I would choose the Indmar over a Merc every time just for the much simpler impeller changes. The Mercs from that era also had vapor lock problems.

IMO the Tige has a better surf wake, and the 'bu has a better wakeboard wake. The Tige has a vert wake with a ton of kick when it's clean, but the spray pockets leave a crust that's pretty much impossible to eliminate. You have to be doing something really wrong weightwise for the 'bu wake to not be clean.

The Tige is roomier than the 'bu. Vinyl quality on the Tiges from that era is pretty poor. Wood has its issues, but that wouldn't keep me from buying an older Tige. Malibu uses honeycomb aluminum for the floor, and it can be dented too easily IMO.

Those are really low hours on both, but I would actually be concerned with an 11 yr old boat having only 215 hours. That means it sat unused a lot, which is not a good thing.

I've spent a lot of time in both of those models. The Tige will handle rough water better, but will take water over the bow a lot easier when it's not on plane. I would choose the Indmar over a Merc every time just for the much simpler impeller changes. The Mercs from that era also had vapor lock problems.

IMO the Tige has a better surf wake, and the 'bu has a better wakeboard wake. The Tige has a vert wake with a ton of kick when it's clean, but the spray pockets leave a crust that's pretty much impossible to eliminate. You have to be doing something really wrong weightwise for the 'bu wake to not be clean.

The Tige is roomier than the 'bu. Vinyl quality on the Tiges from that era is pretty poor. Wood has its issues, but that wouldn't keep me from buying an older Tige. Malibu uses honeycomb aluminum for the floor, and it can be dented too easily IMO.

Those are really low hours on both, but I would actually be concerned with an 11 yr old boat having only 215 hours. That means it sat unused a lot, which is not a good thing.

At the end of the day, they are both good boats.

Good points to know as far as the wakes and maintenence with the impeller and the vapor lock problems....it gets 110-118 degrees down at the Rio Hardy during the summer! Also cool points to know bout the room and vinyl between the two. Why do you say that it is not a good thing that the Tige sat alot? Thanks man